BASF subsidiary Wintershall and Statoil agree on asset swap
Companies swap stakes in the North Sea oil and gas fields Brage, Vega, Gjøa and Edvard Grieg - Wintershall substantially expands production in Norway
BASF Group company Wintershall is substantially expanding its production and reserves of oil and gas in the North Sea. Through an asset swap, Wintershall will receive from the Norwegian Statoil ASA shares in the three producing fields Brage (32.7 percent), Gjøa (15 percent) and Vega (30 percent), containing reserves (2P) of around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). In addition, it is the joint intention of the companies that Wintershall takes over the operatorship of Brage, its first large production platform offshore Norway, subject to the agreement of the authorities and partners. A respective agreement was signed by Statoil and Wintershall today in Stavanger, Norway.
Through the transaction, Wintershall Norge will raise its daily production from currently around 3,000 boe to almost 40,000 boe per day next year. In return, Statoil will receive a 15-percent share in the development project Edvard Grieg from Wintershall and financial compensation of US$1.35 billion. An additional payment of up to US$100 million will be paid contingent on the successful future development of the Vega field.
In addition, the companies have agreed to cooperate in research activities to increase production from oil fields through Enhance Oil Recovery (EOR) and to examine the offshore application of the innovative technology “Schizophyllan” being developed by Wintershall and BASF. Wintershall and Statoil also agreed to conduct research together into unconventional resources in Germany and internationally. Accordingly Statoil is to receive a 49 percent share in the Wintershall concessions “Rheinland” and “Ruhr” in Germany.
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